Albus Potter: Year One
by amandagrace427
Summary: Albus is off to Hogwarts! Yay! and we gets a peek into Harry's now sort of boring life as an Auror
1. Chapter 1

The first day of September found Albus Potter up and about at 5 in the morning. He tumbled out of bed and yawned, strolling over to his closet. What to wear, what to wear... If he chose to put on his school robes, people would think he was a dork, so he settled with a button down shirt and jeans. He slipped on a jacket and strolled downstairs to the smell of bacon sizzling on a pan.

A middle-aged woman with fiery red hair piled up in a bun pattered around the kitchen, flipping some pancakes. Two knives hung in the air, chopping up a chunk of ham into perfect little cubes, and a pot of oatmeal seemed to be stirring itself. To any outsider, this would have been the strangest sight, but Albus was used to all this. "Morning, Mom," he yawned, sliding into a chair.

She turned around. "Morning. Why are you up so early, Al? You should be getting lots of sleep before leaving!"

"But I'm too excited, Mom!" he whined and she smiled gently.

She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, a familiar voice drawled, "Now, now Albus. Let's not pee our pants. It's only the first day." Albus turned around to see his brother James lazily walk into the room.

"Morning, Mom," he said. "Make me a sammich." She frowned at him and he immediately backtracked. "Just kidding, just kidding! Geez!"

"That is no way to talk to your mother," she snapped, and James looked down meekly.

"Sorry."

Mrs. Potter huffed and turned back to the eggs.

A few minutes passed by in silence interrupted only by Mrs. Potter's glares and the sound of frying bacon before someone else made an appearance in the kitchen. Sweeping past the table, Harry Potter groggily walked up to his wife. "Morning, love," he said, then kissed her.

James made gagging noises and pretended to throw up in the fruit basket while Albus winced. "Ewwww, Dad, seriously! There's other people in here!"

His dad looked around at them sheepishly and wiped his glasses. Frowning, he put them back on and said , "Sorry, I didn't see you there." He had bright green eyes, just like Albus, and his black hair was beginning to be tinged with flecks of gray. His hair stuck up in the back and his glasses were crooked, giving him an impression of being aloof and silly all the time. He scratched his head, fluffing up his hair even more, and looked around. "Where's Lil?"

As if on cue, a thumping was heard from upstairs, followed by the pitter patter of footsteps. Within seconds, Lily ran into the room, jumping on top of Albus, nearly squishing him to death. "Morning, everyone!" she screamed cheerfully. She clapped and said, "What are we having for breakfast."

Albus tried to push her off. "Can't... breathe..." he wheezed.

James grinned. "Awww, is widdle Al getting beat up by a girl?" He walked past his little brother and flicked him affectionately on the nose.

Albus flinched away while Harry said, "Now, James..." warningly.

"It's all Al's fault cause he stole my seat!" Lily announced, bouncing up and down on top of her brother.

"Well it doesn't matter, because I'm off to Hogwarts today and YOU'RE NOT!" he said, sticking his tongue out at her. She jumped off and crossed her arms. Seizing the chance, Albus leaped out of the chair and made a mad dash out of her reach.

"Not fair!" she whined, stomping her feet.

"Lily," her mom sighed, "let's not be a baby anymore. We've already been over this. You're going next year. Can't you wait?"

Lily frowned. "But I want to go NOW!"

Mrs. Potter sighed and poured out a nice helping of oatmeal for everyone. "Um, Mom, it's fine." Albus said, pushing his bowl away. He hated oatmeal.

"On second thought," he said after seeing his mom's glare, "I'll eat it... Yum, yum." He stuffed spoonful after spoonful into his mouth, trying not to gag.

After an hour of his mom force feeding him "protein," Albus dragged himself upstairs. He seriously felt like he was going to upchuck, and it wasn't helping that James was purposely making retching noises behind him.

"You know you wanna baaaarf!" James sang, off-key.

"Shut up," Albus snapped, and to his surprise, James became quiet.

After a moment, James spoke up. "So... Try not to be in Slytherin or Daddy will disown you."

Albus wheeled around on his heel and glared at his brother. "I. Will. Not. Be. In. Slytherin!" he said, storming up the stairs.

"I don't know about that," James said in a singsong voice. "Cause you know, your middle name is Severus, and we all know what house HE was in."

Albus couldn't take it anymore. He ran upstairs to his room as fast as he could and slammed the door loudly.

"Al!" his mother scolded.

"Sorry!" he called, sticking his head out the door. He closed it quietly this time to avoid irritating his mom.

He plopped on his bed and buried his head in his pillow. He wasn't going to be in Slytherin, was he? He felt like he would rather die than join that house. He'd heard so many stories about it, and none of them seemed to have good endings. He sighed, and stared out the window.

What would Hogwarts be like? From what he'd heard, it was gigantic and old. He pictured a majestic building in his mind, a giant red-brick building with ivy crawling up the sides sitting atop a large hill. A quidditch field would lie on the side of the hill and the lake would sprawl halfway around it, almost like a moat.

When he had told James this and tried to draw a picture of it, James had merely scoffed and said. "That definitely is NOT Hogwarts."

Albus sighed and got off his bed, smoothing down the comforter. He browsed through his bag of supplies until he found what he was looking for- his wand. As his fingers made contact with it, they felt warmer and he put it in his pocket. Instantaneously, he felt stronger and more confident and his insecurities seemed to fly away. He opened his suitcase one last time, shoving his books in it haphazardly and dragged the heavy case downstairs. He couldn't wait until he could lift it using magic. He dropped it on his foot and groaned in pain. It would make life so much easier.

Downstairs, everyone was waiting for James while Mrs. Potter bustled around muttering to herself and staring at a strange clock with stars around the edges. "We're going to be late!" she yelled up the stairs.

"I'm almost ready!" came James' reply.

After five more minutes, Albus' things had finally been loaded into the car, which Harry had magically expanded. Everyone was waiting by the door, trying to avoid the glares of Mrs. Potter. "JAMES POTTER!" she yelled yet again, "Get your sorry butt downstairs. NOW!"

James scurried over and stopped at the foot of the stairs. His mom frowned. "You are not going to school wearing that." He had on bunny pajamas and comfortable slippers. "You have to take school much more seriously than that."

James trudged up backstairs, rolling his eyes until Mrs. Potter snapped, "Hurry!"

He twitched and quickly scampered upstairs, reappearing seconds later in a t-shirt and jeans, his brown hair slightly messed up. How did he get dressed so fast?

Mrs. Potter tapped her feet impatiently. "Your suitcase?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Woops..." James muttered quietly. "I must've forgot to pack...?"

Albus backed out the door and his mom turned red. He really didn't want to be in the room for the explosion.

Harry rushed forward to try to calm his wife. "Ginny, darling..." he faltered when she glared at him. Taking a few cautious steps away, he said, "Perhaps we should just send him his stuff via owl."

James nodded vigorously and patted his mom's arm. "No need to spontaneously combust, dear mother. I agree with Dad. What a perfect plan!"

He ran out the door, pushing past Albus and jumping into the car. Lily giggled, chasing after him, leaving Albus with his grumbling mother and anxious-looking dad.

"Come on, let's go," he suggested apprehensively. To his relief, his parents followed without further comment.

An awkward car ride later, they were at King's Cross Station in London. Muggles in business suits bustled around, paying no attention to the Potters. Obviously, the squawking owls earned some interested stares from some bored hippies, but other than that, no one minded them. "Alright, alright," Mrs. Potter said, anxiously checking her watch. She had been doing this every three minutes for the past hour, making it seem like she had some twitch. "We have twenty more minutes, let's hurry on over to the platform." They headed over towards Platform 9.

Lily began to cry when she saw this familiar place. "I want to go!" she sniffled into her mom's shirt.

Her mom sighed and tried to explain yet again. "You're not the right age yet! They'll call you next year when the time comes."

Lily contented herself by wiping away a fake tear.

Meanwhile, Albus was walking a bit in front of his family, anxious to get on the train for the first time. James caught up to him. "Excited?" he asked.

Al smiled. "Of course!"

James laughed, then his face became serious. "Try not to land yourself in Slytherin," he said before disappearing into the barrier between Platform 9 and Platform 10.

Albus groaned and looked behind him. His parents were catching up, so he decided it'd be okay to run through the barrier too. He smiled as he hit the wall, feeling the familiar weird tingles from traveling through the barrier. James was waiting by some friends and looked at Albus jumpily. "I'm going to visit some friends, kay? Tell Mom or she'll go ballistic."

Albus nodded. It'd be so funny if he didn't tell though. James would get in so much trouble and he'd deserve it. Karma,

After a minute, his parents and little sister appeared by his side. "Where's James?" his mom asked, looking around worriedly.

"Oh, just with some friends," Albus replied. His mom tsked and shook her head.

He suddenly felt nervous as the steam from the train cleared. Hundreds of wizards stood on the platform and he was worried that they would all hate him. He felt his stomach sink and he looked around for his best friend and only source of consolation.

"Daddy? Where's Rose?" he tugged on his dad's arm.

"Hrm?" Harry looked down at his child. "Oh, they'll be here soon, I guess." He smiled at his sun, ruffling his hair affectionately, and continued looking for Ron and Hermione.

"Look! Daddy! There!" Albus jumped up and down, squealing with delight. A family of three showed up, having just crossed the barrier. "Daddy! Daddy! Rose is here!" He ran up to hug her and his dad went to greet Rose's parents.

Albus heard his dad say, "So, Ron, how long did it take for you to get hear" before he took Rose's arm and dragged her to the side.

"What could possibly be wrong?" she asked him, concern in her eyes.

"I'm nervous," he whispered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Please. What is there to be nervous about? As long as you're prepared, I'm sure it'll be fine!" Albus groaned. Rose's definition of prepared was definitely different than everyone else's. She flipped her frizzy red hair. "Take for example- you studied the books right? What's the third charm taught in Chapter 3 of The Elemental Book of Charms, Volume 6?"

Albus balked at her. "Are you serious?"

She stuck her nose up in the air and frowned. "Well... Now I can see why you're nervous! You better study on the train, I'll help you there." She looked over as her dad called her name. "Gotta go talk to him, but I'll catch you later!"

Albus waved goodbye, feeling a bit weak in the knees. He walked over to his mom and dad to hug them goodbye and then waved to Ron and Hermione. "Dad?" he asked quietly.

Harry looked at his son and bent down.

Albus gulped and whispered into Harry's ear. "What if I'm in Slytherin?" A nagging feeling had been knawing at him all day and he wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Harry surprised him by laughing and patting his head. In a low voice, he said, "The sorting hat takes your choice into account, trust me."

Albus looked up incredulously. "Really?"

"Yup. Besides, if you were in Slytherin, it wouldn't really matter to me at all. In fact, you were named after two of Hogwarts' greatest headmasters and it so happened that one of them was a Slytherin." He patted Albus' back and Albus sighed in relief.

He felt better now that there was no pressure to be in Gryffindor. "Now off you go!" his dad said cheerfully. His mom kissed his and James' cheeks and pushed his luggage onto the train.

"Bye!" he called, waving. He was finally off to Hogwarts.


	2. Chapter 2

Albus lugged his suitcase down the corridor, tripping and stumbling. Cursing, he kicked it and sighed. "James? Can you help me?"

James turned around and frowned, pretending to look over Albus's shoulder. "Did someone say something? I can't see anything?"

"Seriously, James. A little help please."

James sighed in exasperation. "Look, Al, I know at home I'm your awesome brother and all, but at school it cramps my style to be seen with a first year. Later, later, later." He pushed Albus by his shoulders into a compartment full of older students. They immediately stopped talking and looked at him curiously.

Albus headed for the door immediately, trying to avoid the gazes of the students when a boy with reddish blonde hair and piercing blue eyes stopped him. His eyes raked over Albus, taking in the black hair and green eyes. "Here, do you need some help? I'm Jake. Jake Caugherty."

Albus nodded and stepped outside. Jake lifted up the suitcase with ease and turned back to Albus. "So are you excited for your first year here?"

Albus blushed. "How did you know it's my first year?"

"Well, you have the same lost look that I see on new students every year so..." Jake trailed off and looked curiously through a compartment's window. Following his gaze, Albus saw Rose sitting on a seat, waving furiously at them. He blushed again and looked down.

"Yeah, you can leave my stuff here. Thanks for helping me."

Jake put down the suitcase, which banged loudly against the floor and turned to Albus with a twinkling light in his eye. "Someone got a crush?" he teased.

"No!" Albus looked horrified. "She's my cousin!"

"Oh, my bad," Jake said. He swept his eyes over Albus once more and glanced swifty at Rose. "I guess I'll be seeing you around." He walked away, his robes swishing with each step he took.

Albus stepped into the compartment and turned to face Rose.

"What was that all about?" she asked, putting down a textbook.

Albus eyed it nervously. That thing had to be about 1,000 pages at least. "Is that one of our textbooks?" he asked.

"No," Rose sighed, "I just want to get some extra reading done so I can take more classes." As Albus frowned at her in disbelief, she sighed. "Don't look at me like that! Besides, you really should start thinking about your future. Before you know it, you'll be begging me to help you study for your classes because you won't have enough to graduate!"

Albus raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Seriously, Rosie. We don't graduate for seven more years! We haven't even gotten to school for heaven's sake."

Rose ignored him and went back to reading, putting her textbook up and resolutely not looking at him. Sighing, he sat down on the seat across from her.

"ARGH!" he yelled and stood up quickly. He had sat on something soft and squishy. Looking down, he saw two eyes blinking at him balefully.

A short girl with raven-black hair was stretched across the seat, still glaring at him. She was bony and had high cheekbones and long, arched eyebrows. Her hazel eyes were currently narrowed at him.

"Um, sorry?" he said timidly.

"You should be," the girl snapped.

Albus glanced at Rose for support, but she shrugged and bent down to tie her shoe. "She was already there when I came in. Thought she was sleeping or something."

The girl with the black hair looked offended. "SHE has a name you know," she snapped. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry for being rude, but you'd be mad if someone sat on you, too. I'm Ysabel." She stuck out her hand and Albus took it.

"You don't happen to be related to Harry Potter, do you? You look an awful lot like him." she asked.

Albus ran his hands through his hair nervously. "Ummm..."

Rose jumped in to help him. "He's Harry's son."

Ysabel looked at him in surprise, leaning in uncomfortably close to examine his face. "Oh my, you do look like him so much! I know I'd seen you somewhere! Did you see the move they made about him? It was quite fantastic, especially that last scene where he blew You-Know-Who into pieces! Though quite honestly, I don't think the actor does him justice." She blabbered on and on while Rose and Albus exchanged looks.

Rose leaned over towards him and whispered, "I think your mom's got some competition here, Al." He laughed, looking over at Ysabel, who was staring off into space.

She suddenly snapped out of her reverie. "Sorry," she said sheepishly, "I kind of got carried away, didn't I?"

"It's okay," Albus said.

They sat down in the seats again, Rose perusing another textbook, Albus staring off into space, and Ysabel humming quietly to herself. Suddenly, she spoke up. "You know, I never got your guys' names."

Albus looked up. "'M Albus," he said, "and that's Rose, who's obviously too busy reading to notice us."

Ysabel studied Rose for a minute and a smile lit up her face. "Oh my gosh! Is that Deciphering Ancient Runes, Volume 1?"

Rose looked up, surprised. "Yeah, I'm studying it so I can skip to Level 3 next year.," she said loftily.

"Me too," Ysabel said, surprising both Rose and Albus, "and I'm doing Charms Etymology this year."

"Really?" Rose leaned forward, interested. "You can do that?"

"Yeah," Ysabel waved an airy hand. "Just ask your teachers. They'll let you do it."

Albus looked around, confused. He had no idea what they were talking about. As Rose and Ysabel chatted about subjects and books, he could almost feel his brain clog up with boredom. Great, he was stuck in a compartment with two of the possibly smartest people in his year.

Ysabel looked over at Albus. "By the way, you shake hands like a girl."

Harry Potter paced around in his office, trying to remember his dream from last night. Rain lashed outside his window and the sky was a stormy gray. The window was charmed to reflect his mood, but he wished it wasn't. It would be so much easier to concentrate without the sound of thunder interrupting his thoughts every few seconds.

"Silencio," he muttered absentmindedly, pointing his wand at the window. It wasn't particularly effective against objects, but it muffled the sound a little, which helped a lot.

He sat down at his desk, staring at the blank wall in front of him. He needed to remember this dream because it was important, only he didn't know why. Think, he told himself, think! After a few minutes of long, hard staring, he finally remembered- something about the Peverells. In his dream, Ron was waving a book at him, the face of Albus Dumbledore staring resentfully down at him from the cover. It kept saying "Master of Death. Master of Death."

Harry stood up, annoyed. He had no idea why he dreamed that, since it'd been ages since he last united the Deathly Hallows. What was the dream supposed to mean? Was someone trying to unite the Hallows again? But no, that couldn't be because no one knew where the ring was and the wand was safely encased in Dumbledore's tomb. The only Hallow out and about was the invisibility cloak, which James had taken from Harry's drawer.

Harry sighed and dipped his quill into a pot of ink. Scrawling a quick note on a sheet of paper, he watched as it folded itself into a paper airplane and zoomed out of his office. Pointing the tip of his wand to his temple, he slowly pulled it backwards, drawing out a silvery string- a memory. When it finally disconnected, he strode over to his desk, pulled out a vial, and dropped the memory into it, where it curled up, neither solid nor liquid. He then turned to the clock mounted on his wall and waited impatiently for Ron and Hermione to arrive.

Outside the train, the sky was turning a pleasant orange color. The lights inside the compartments turned on and Albus yawned, sitting up. His back ached all over and he stretched, cracking his back.

"Someone's getting old!" an unfamiliar singsong voice chanted, and he spun around to see who it was.

"Relax, Al," Rose said. "It's only Ysabel, remember? With the look on your face, you would've thought a murderer was in this compartment or something."

Albus blushed- he seemed to be doing that a lot today- and indignantly turned to Ysabel. "I'm not old. I just feel asleep in an uncomfortable position."

"Woah, woah, calm down there! I was just joking," she said.

Rose looked over at Albus and frowned. "Are you okay? You seem a bit off today." She scrutinized his face as she said this and he purposely avoided her gaze.

Kicking his feet, he said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little nervous about the sorting I guess."

She gave him another searching look and sighed. "You know you have nothing to worry about, right? Now come on, we're almost there; you should change into your robes."

Albus pulled out his trunk and groaned. "I'm so hungry!" he complained.

Rose and Ysabel exchanged furtive glances. "Well actually," Rose said, fiddling with the sleeve of her robe, "the snack cart came by and we told it to go because-"

She was stopped when Albus glared at her. "You what?"

"Because those snacks really contain too many calories," Ysabel finished Rose's sentence for her. "And frankly, I don't think you need those extra calories or you'll be packing on even more pounds. Hey!" she exclaimed as Albus swiped at her arm. "Don't hit a girl! I was just kidding!"

Albus smirked. "I'm not hitting a girl," he teased.

"Ouch, I'm offended" said Ysabel, feigning hurt.

"Guys!" Rose interjected, "We're here!"

Albus ran to the window and looked out. Sure enough, he saw the faint outline of a castle sitting atop a hill. He dragged his suitcase out the door and waited for Rose and Ysabel to catch up.

As he stood by the door, waiting, a voice startled him. "Hey Albus!" When Albus looked at the speaker uncertainly, the guy said, "You remember me, right?"

When Albus merely looked confused, the stranger put his hands to his chest and staggered backwards in mock disbelief. "I can't believe it! You've forgotten me!"

Suddenly, something in Albus' head clicked and he snapped his fingers. "You're the guy from the train- Jake!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Jake smiled and pretended to wipe away sweat from his forehead. "Whew. You scared me there."

Albus turned around as he heard another voice coming from behind him.

"Al, Al!" Rose screamed.

Jake laughed and said, "Alright, I'll stop harassing you now. Hope to see you in my house!" he winked and Albus noticed the prefect's badge gleaming on his chest as he walked away.

"Who was that?" Rose asked excitedly. "He was a PREFECT!"

Albus rolled his eyes. Sometimes, it seemed like Rose's only ambition was to become prefect and head girl. "Just a friend," he said and Rose's jaw dropped open. If there was one characteristic Rose and Albus shared, it would be there love of being far too dramatic.

"Only a friend?" she asked, her voice a few octaves higher. "He's a prefect! A model student!"

Albus put his hands on her shoulders. "Breathe, Rose."

She turned beet red and muttered, "Woops." Walking from the way she came, she gestured for Albus to follow. "Come on. Ysabel's waiting for us."

"Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" a familiar voice called. Albus smiled fondly as Hagrid strode into side, his straggly beard blending in with the fur collar of his large jacket. "'ello Albus and Rose! How're ya?"

"Good," they answered at the same time, and Hagrid slapped their backs affectionately. Albus staggered forward and Rose fell to the ground.

"Oops, I mighta slapped yer a bit too hard," Hagrid mused, picking Rose up easily and setting her back down on her feet. She dusted herself off and rolled her eyes, heading towards Ysabel, who was waving furiously at them.

She eyed Albus and said, "You know, you didn't need to bring your luggage. It'll be too heavy to carry across the lake."

"Actually," Rose cut in rather obnoxiously, "nothing is ever too heavy because the boats are enchanted to carry any weight. I read it in Hogwarts, a History"

Ysabel waved this remark away. "If we all sink and die, this is so your fault."

Albus shifted his weight from foot to foot. Honestly, he didn't want to bring his luggage across the lake. He'd look like such a dork if he dragged it place to place as he got sorted. "Alright," he sighed, "I'll take it back to the train." He grunted and attempted to lift the suitcase up.

"Here." Rose scurried over to help him.

"Let me help," Ysabel said. Drawing out her wand, she pointed it at the suitcase and muttered, "Mobilipraeclusio," then pointed to the train. To Albus' surprise, the suitcase began to drift away.

Narrowing her eyes, Rose turned to Ysabel. "Where did you learn that? It must be advanced magic!"

Ysabel shrugged. "I've just studied a lot already."

Rose looked at her incredulously and Ysabel shifted around nervously, looking rather uncomfortable. "Well, I'm taking Charms Etymology this year so I've obviously got to know a bit about this stuff..."

Just then, Hagrid called out, "All righ' first years, get in them boats," shooing them into the boats that suddenly surfaced, creating big ripples. "Four to each, hurry on up."

Albus scrambled into the nearest boat, pulling Rose and Ysabel in. A nervous-looking boy appeared moments later, biting his nails and looking around nervously. "Can I sit with you guys?" he asked in a shaky voice, and Albus nodded an encouraging yes. The boy cautiously stepped in, still looking scared and said, "H-hi. I'm Martin. Martin Pevers."

Albus took his hand and smiled. "Albus Potter, and this is Rose Weasley and Ysabel...?" he looked towards her inquiringly.

"I can introduce myself, thank you very much," she said and grinned. "I'm offended you don't know my last name though." Turning to Martin, she said, "I'm Ysabel Taylor." She smiled and he looked down, frightened.

The whole ride across the lake, Rose seemed unusually silent. Albus poked her in the side and she slapped him away grumpily. "What's wrong?" he asked."

"Nothing." she said curtly and turned away.

Albus wondered what was on her mind, barely registering the fact that he was walking on dry land again. It wasn't until he bumped into a disgruntled Rose that he realized they were at the door of Hogwarts. He gulped. This was it. "All righ', good luck!" Hagrid said, and knocked on the door.


	3. Chapter 3

BOOM. The knocker thudded on the wooden door, bouncing up and down a few times. The sound reverberated through the air, creating a rather ominous atmosphere. After a few seconds of waiting, the door creaked open, revealing a stern-looking lady with white hair tied up in a bun. Albus recognized her- she sometimes made an appearance during Christmas dinners and reunions. Jumping up and down, he screamed, "Hi, Professor McGonagall!", glad to see a reassuringly familiar face.

She gave him a stern glance and turned to the students. "Follow me," she said, and spun on her heel.

"Bye, guys! Behave now!" Hagrid said as all the kids filed in through the doors nervously. Albus hung back to wait for Ysabel, who was crouching over a young boy with blonde hair. Rose stood to the side sulkily, tapping her feel. "Hurry up, Ysabel, let's go! I want to be sorted!"

As she said this, the blond boy on the ground moaned again. "I can't do this," he whispered and clutched his stomach. Intrigued, Albus crept closer. "If I don't get into Slytherin, they'll get so mad!"

Ysabel was calming the boy down, patting his back and telling him that everything would be okay. "Now up you go," she said, and he obeyed, clutching her elbow for support. "That's right. Now let's go on in."

The boy shakily stood up and rubbed his nose. When he lifted his head, he stared at Albus with tear stained eyes for a second before his eyebrows narrowed. "You're the Potter kid," he said, a note of accusation in his eyes.

Albus took in the bleach blonde hair and pointed chin, recognizing him from Platform 9 3/4. "And you must be a Malfoy. Trust me, I've heard all about you," he sneered.

The Malfoy boy strode up to him, a mean look in his eyes. For a second, Albus thought he was going to hit him, but the boy just brushed past him without saying anything. Slowly, Albus walked through the front door, followed by his friends.

"What'd you do that for?" Ysabel asked angrily. "He didn't do anything to you!"

Albus swept around. "He didn't do anything? He said 'the Potter boy' as if I were scum!" He kept on walking, striding even faster.

Rose caught him by the arm of his robes and spun him around to face her. "Come on, Albus! You know your dad doesn't want us to start trouble! I'm sure Scorpio didn't mean it in a bad way, and it's best to avoid making enemies whenever possible. Especially for you."

"Scorpio?" Albus snarled. "So now you're on first name terms with him, aren't you? You're all buddy buddy with little Mr. Malfoy." He yanked his arm from her grip. He knew he was being unreasonable, but his nerves were already stretched to breaking point and right now all he wanted was for someone to side with him.

He walked into the room where the first years were waiting, still fuming. Behind him, the girls were talking quickly and quietly- probably about him. He sighed. Maybe they were right. He shouldn't try to pick a fight so early. Scanning the room, he caught sight of the Malfoy boy nervously adjusting and readjusting his robes.

Taking a deep breath, Albus walked up to him and stuck his hand out. "Hi, Scorpio, right? I think we started off on the wrong foot. Nice to meet you."

Scorpio looked at him with suspicious eyes. He seemed to waver a bit before spitting on Albus's outstretched hands. "I don't want anything to do with you, Potter."

Albus glared at him. "You shouldn't call me that. There's more than one Potter in this school. And bring it." He tried to inconspicuously wipe his hand on his robes.

"You're asking for it, Potter. I'm going to make your life a living hell."

Albus looked at the blonde boy, who was almost a head shorter than him. "Oooh, I'm scared," he said sarcastically and walked back towards his friends.

Rose was glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest, while Ysabel was staring off into space, her mouth moving as if she were whispering to herself. "What were you doing?" Rose snapped as Albus got back. "Starting another fight?"

Albus backed up. "No, no, no. Actually, I wanted to apologize."

Rose's eyes bugged out in surprised and Albus chuckled. "You know, I can be nice sometimes; don't act so surprised!"

She frowned again. "Why is he glaring daggers at you then?"

Albus turned around. Sure enough, Scorpio was staring at him with venom in his eyes. "Oh," he said. "Well he wouldn't accept my apology so he probably hates me."

Rose narrowed her eyes. "You liar!" she hissed. "What did you do to him?"

"I-I swear!" Albus stammered. When Rose got mad, she bore an uncanny resemblance to Mrs. Potter.

Ysabel cut in, interrupting them. She was still staring off into the distance while she said, "It's true, you know," in a musical voice. "He did try to apologize."

"Thank you!" Albus threw his hands up in exasperation and turned to Rose.

"How do you know he's not lying?" Rose asked suspiciously.

Ysabel waved her question away airily as if it weren't important. "I just got a... vibe... you know?"

Albus and Rose stared at each other, flummoxed. "No, we don't know," they said together.

"Hmmmn," she said. "Well don't be too mad at him. He's just jealous of you," Ysabel responded.

Albus was confused. "Jealous? Why?"

She shrugged. "Beats me," she said, still staring at some unknown place. Albus followed her gaze, but nothing was there.

"Why are you looking there?" he asked.

It took awhile for her to respond. "I'm just thinking."

Just then, Rose tapped Albus' shoulder. "Time to go." She looked at Ysabel with an expression of annoyance. "That means you, too, Miss Know-It-All."

Together, they walked out into the Great Hall for the Sorting.

Harry Potter picked up his quill and dipped it in the ink. It hovered over the parchment, dripping random splashes of ink everywhere. He scratched his head and placed the quill back on the desk. Striding over to his cabinet, he unlocked it. Books came tumbling out, crushing his foot and he cursed under his breath.

Having found what he was looking for, a dusty clay pot, he hopped over on his good foot over to his fireplace and rested his bruised leg gingery on an overstuffed armchair. Pressing the bruises carefully, he winced, then shook his head. He opened the lid of the pot and placed it on his desk, where it made a dull thunk sound and he got a pinch of a dusty, powdery substance out of it. He threw it into the fire and yelled, "3673 Calle Mia, Arizona!" at the now green flames. He stuck his head into them, the flames licking up and down his face, and felt the familiar sensation of spinning through smoke. When the spinning finally stopped, he opened his eyes and coughed out a bit of smoke. Looking up, he met the eyes of a dark-haired man who was laughing at him good-naturedly.

"Hey, Rick," he said, spitting out some ashes.

"What's up, Harry?" Rick said, looking down at him. "You can just come through, you know. You look rather uncomfortable in there."

Harry was indeed feeling a bit uncomfortable with his neck being tickled by flames and his head more than 8,000 kilometers away from the rest of his body. He awkwardly climbed up, sticking his legs into the fire, and immediately felt the weird sensation of his legs being twisted and turned until they suddenly stopped. He got up out of his squatting position and dusted himself off.

"So what's got you in such a bother?" asked Rick.

"Eh, nothing," Harry responded. "Just craving some company. Hermione's off doing some research in France, and Ron has to stay home and take care of Hugo. Thought I'd come visit you."

Rick pretended to be offended. "So I'm the third wheel?" He was about the same height as Harry, albeit a lot more muscled, but he somehow appeared much more imposing. Harry, however, wasn't scared. He had known Rick for more than 10 years and they had become close friends through their work as Aurors.

"Course not!" he laughed. "Just you're so far, and I get lazy."

Rick put on a disapproving face. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Head Auror of Britain's lazy?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Who are you to judge, Mr. Head Auror of America? How's Raquel, by the way?"

"She's doing fine, I guess. The schools haven't come calling yet so I don't know what to make of it. Here- RAQUEL!" he called for his daughter.

A voice yelled back from upstairs. "Coming, dad. Hold on a sec."

As they were waiting, Harry turned to Rick. "Why do you think the schools haven't asked her to attend yet?"

Rick shrugged. "I dunno. But I'm definitely glad they haven't been able to track her down. I mean, it means I'm doing a good job, right?"

Just then, loud thunking noises could be heard walking down the stairs. Rick immediately cleared his throat and stepped in front of the doorway. "Guess who's here, Raquel?"

"Who?" she asked.

"BOO!" Harry shouted from behind Rick, making her scream.

"Uncle Harry!" she cried, burying her face in his arms. "You scared me!" Looking up at him, she said, "Save me! Daddy keeps on trying to move us around because of his job. Can't you take me somewhere else?"

Harry brushed the black hair off her face gently and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't. It's too dangerous."

"You're no fun," she pouted, stomping her feet.

"Rae," Rick said sternly. "We've already been over this. It's too dangerous for you to be out." She opened her mouth, but he second-guessed her. "Because I'm an Auror."

"But Harry's an Auror too!" She turned to Harry. "And you don't lock your kids up, do you?"

"Don't call him Harry, that's disrespectful," Rick chided.

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's fine," he said. Looking into her moping hazel eyes, he said, "Fine, I'll make you a deal. You listen to your dad for the rest of the year, and you can come over during Christmas for a 'normal' family dinner."

"Really?" her face brightened up. "Deal," she said, spitting on her hand and sticking it out.

Harry waved her hand away and said. "How about I just give you my word?"

She tilted her head to the side, considering it for awhile, before nodding and skipping upstairs. "I'm tired, Daddy. Goodnight, Uncle Harry!"

Harry waved goodnight to her and frowned. "I'm sorry," he said, apologizing to Rick. "I didn't mean to come so late, just the time difference, you know."

Rick laughed. "No big deal. She doesn't really sleep until after midnight anyways since she pretty much has nothing to do."

"Maybe she's right, Rick," Harry said gently. "Maybe she does need to live a normal life."

Rick frowned, "But she's in danger. Ever since-"

"Maybe you should tell her about the prophecy," Harry cut in. "She deserves to know." Rick was about to interject furiously, but Harry continued, a bit louder. "And you know that most prophecies don't come true, right?"

"Still..." Rick muttered. "She's my daughter and I want her within sight at all times. Under my care, I can make sure no harm comes to her and if she does suffer the fate the prophecy has in store, I'll die defending her. I've already given up so much to help her, I can't bear to lose her now."

Harry sighed, pushing his chair out. "Alright, well I should probably be going. Thanks for the tea. Tell Raquel goodbye for me." He got over to the fireplace and threw some gray dust into it. As it enveloped into green flames, he called, "Ministry of Magic, London!" and turned back to Rick. "See you at Christmas," he said, then stepped into the flames.


End file.
